Kingston Council will put forward their bid for a share of £100m to improve cycle lanes in the area on December 13th.
Kingston is one of eight boroughs in London that has been shortlisted to receive a part of the million pound project from the Mayor of London’s scheme to improve cycling in the capital.
The proposal of a pontoon-style cycle path that runs alongside the river is aimed at encouraging more cyclists to get on their bikes.
The Council are also keen on linking Kingston town centre with neighbouring areas.
Darren Richards, the head of planning and transport in Kingston said: “The major proposal is what we are calling ‘a network of high-quality routes’. Linking Kingston town centre with other areas like Surbiton and up through to Richmond.”
At a recent Council meeting, the proposal of a ‘floating cycle path’ that runs along the river, was met with mixed reactions.
A member of the public during the proposal at the Council meeting said: “It’s destroying the landscape of the riverside, totally!”
Mr Richards stressed that changes will not happen overnight and that the public’s interest would be taken into account.
“We’re not suggesting that these changes are going to happen immediately. The Mayor has said he wants to see a transformation of the town to encourage cycling. These are some of our ideas of how we would do that.”
Addressing those present at the meeting, Mr Richards added: “There is still a long way to go before we see anything happen. We still have to go through a number of processes with the Mayor and feedback from people like yourselves is very important as part of that process.”
